McBride makes life sweeter everywhere he goes

Wednesday

Dec 11, 2013 at 4:02 PM

Anyone who has ever met Donnie McBride usually leaves with a smile and handful of candy.

BY SHARON MYERSThe Dispatch

Anyone who has ever met Donnie McBride usually leaves with a smile and handful of candy.The candy comes from a lifelong habit he picked up from his father, who owned a small grocery store. The smile is a genuine reflection of the kindness, caring and optimism that is an overwhelming characteristic of the man who has served the citizens of Lexington for over 30 years.McBride served 12 years as the representative for Ward 2 on the Lexington City Council. He decided not to run for another term this year for personal reasons, but said he is appreciative of the time he spent on the council. "I am just thankful that people had enough faith in me to put me in there for three terms," McBride said. "I want to say thank you to everyone, and I hope I have made a difference."McBride, a native of Lexington, is a graduate of Lexington Senior High School and Davidson County Community College. He began carrying candy in his pocket when he was working at Roby Leonard Wholesale."I got it from my dad who used to give out candy to the kids who came in his store," McBride said. "When I started (at) Roby Leonard, I just started keeping candy on me. It helped out when I was making sales calls because you could butter up the ladies who worked the front desk if you wanted to get in to speak to someone."Prior to beginning his career as a salesman at Billings Freight Systems, McBride served in the Navy as a training specialist. During one of his times on leave he met his future wife, Judy. They have a daughter, Melissa.McBride started his career in community service in the 1980s when he served on the board of directors for the Salvation Army. He served there for 10 years before he left to serve on the board of directors at Crisis Ministry of Davidson County for another 10 years. He had no intention of ever running for city council until a friend said he would pay the filing fee if he would run — which the friend never did. In 2001, McBride ran against Stacey Foster, who had served on the city council for 22 years, and won by 18 votes."I didn't have a thought that I would ever have a chance to beat him," McBride said.His first year on the council just happened to be the year that the manufacturing economy began to decline, and Lexington began one of its worst economic downturns. McBride said it was a difficult time for everyone, especially those who had to make the hard decisions. "I did a lot of pondering and praying," McBride said. "The only thing I didn't want was for it to fall back on the citizens where they would have to pay more taxes."McBride said the city was losing millions of dollars in utilities and had a plummeting tax base and rising unemployment rate. He said it was pretty close to a miracle that the city pulled through, but the most difficult part was trying to stay optimistic during the dark days. Although finance and regulation was a mainstay of the role of a councilman, McBride said dealing with the public took most of his time. He would receive phone calls from citizens with complaints from the serious to the bizarre. McBride remembers the very first call he made to a citizen to investigate an issue concerning a water bill."This lady happened to be deaf and didn't have many visitors," McBride said. "We looked at her meter and went into the house to investigate. Come to find out, her toilet was running, so I just bent the arm in the tank, and it solved the problem."He has received calls about people leaving their trash cans out or pets roaming into a neighbor's yard. He even had a citizen complain that his neighbor was threatening him because his leaves were blowing into the gutters. McBride said although he likes helping people, he will not miss being bombarded with questions when he goes out in public."It is going to be a comfort when I don't have to get all these calls," McBride said. "It will be nice to go to a restaurant and get to eat before my food gets cold." Tobin Shepherd has replaced McBride as the representative for Ward 2. McBride said he is encouraged by the new vitality and energy he sees on the city council."It is a young and well-educated board," McBride said. "There have been some major changes, and there will be more to come. I believe our mayor (Newell Clark) is charismatic, energetic and enthusiastic, and that is what our city needs."McBride said he is looking forward to being able to spend more time with his wife and daughter but has no plans on changing his philosophy of helping out. "I believe it is all about doing things for other people," he said. "I guarantee that it helps your spirit, and others get something out of it, too."Sharon Myers can be reached at 249-3981, ext, 228 or at sharon.myers@the-dispatch.com.

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